Advice please : Using a TV as a computer monitor

colin72

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Dec 15, 2010
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Hi

I want to buy a LED TV to use as a computer monitor. I've done a lot of reading but I'm not a tech guy so it's all foreign to me. I read something online that made me think the graphics card in your computer was something you had to consider. Is that true??

I'm afraid I'm going to buy something and then find out I bought the wrong thing or bought something that won't work with my computer.

I'm planning on using the TV with my laptop but might also use my desktop. Could someone let me know if there is anything that would prevent me from using a TV as a monitor with the following...

Laptop: Dell Latitude D630
Win 7 HP
Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 @ 1.80 GHz
2 GB RAM
32 bit OS


Desktop: HP Pavilion Elite HPE
Win 7 HP
Intel Core i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80 GHz
6 GB RAM
62 bit OS



Thanks!
 
Solution
I think you meant 1920x1080, not 1980x1080. And the majority of PC monitors currently sold are 60hz, so any 1080p 60hz TV should be ok so long as it isn't over 32". 42" would work as well, but again, it's going to look worse the bigger the unit is since you're increasing the size of each pixel when you increase the size of the tv but stay at the same resolution, so the bigger you get, the more "blocky" it begins to look. I wouldn't recommend a 42" tv unless you go with a higher resolution than 1080p, in which case you'll also probably want to make sure the TV and your GPU outputs are both HDMI, DVI or Displayport.

colin72

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Dec 15, 2010
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Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

So just to be clear, there are no issues I need to know about with the graphics card in the computer when connecting a TV as a monitor?

Yes, I was looking at 1080p TVs.

You say, "unless you use a pretty high resolution, I probably wouldn't go bigger than 32". I'm not sure what you mean. For example, right now I have a 24" dell monitor and the resolution is 1920 x 1080. I was going to get a 42" TV.

Thanks again
 

FALC0N

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Apr 5, 2010
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Resolution is the virtual grid your system displays to create video output. 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, etc.

The biggest difference between tv's and monitors these days is supported resolutions and supported refresh rates. Computer monitors are designed to support a wide range of resolutions and refresh rates. TV range is a lot narrower.

TV refresh is usually 60hz with some supporting 120hz. 1080p is 1980x1080 and 720pm is 1280x720. You can count on your tv supporting those resolutions. 1024x768 usually seems to work well. Everything else is a crapshoot, depending upon the TV.
 
I think you meant 1920x1080, not 1980x1080. And the majority of PC monitors currently sold are 60hz, so any 1080p 60hz TV should be ok so long as it isn't over 32". 42" would work as well, but again, it's going to look worse the bigger the unit is since you're increasing the size of each pixel when you increase the size of the tv but stay at the same resolution, so the bigger you get, the more "blocky" it begins to look. I wouldn't recommend a 42" tv unless you go with a higher resolution than 1080p, in which case you'll also probably want to make sure the TV and your GPU outputs are both HDMI, DVI or Displayport.
 
Solution

FALC0N

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I'm also pretty sure I meant 1920x1080. Can I blame autocorrect for that?

We actually do this on a 42 inch tv with one system. It works fine. The picture quality is worse than a monitor, but perfectly useable.